Bobby and Many Buckets of Orange
by Daughter of the Earthshaker
Summary: "This is exactly how I wanted to spend my day off from praetor duty," Jason mumbled to himself sarcastically as he systematically slid the paint roller up and down the orange roof. "Repainting hideous orange roofs because my best friend decided it would be fun to include the entire city in his prank."


**...hey guys.**

 **I don't know what to say but I'm really sorry for never updating. I'm pretty sure most of you guys already left but it's okay. I still enjoy writing and will write for anyone who wants to read.**

 **I've been trying to finish the next chapter for the Greco-Roman Alliance but I'm not sure what I want to do for it anymore. But I realized I finished this oneshot already that is WAY overdue but here it is. It's related to my other oneshot _The History Between Jason Grace and the Colour Orange_ and explains his dislike for orange which happened before HoO. **

**Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but the strange plot bunnies that pop up in my head when I daydream.**

* * *

 **Bobby and Many Buckets of Orange**

* * *

"The Pluto! Who did this?"

"In the name of Jupiter, what is going on?"

"What. The. Pluto."

"WHOEVER DID THIS TO MY ROOF WILL PAY!"

"I bet my money it's one of those Mercury kids…"

"I don't remember painting my roof…"

"As if it isn't bad enough, the word bamboo is scribbled all over!"

"I don't even _like_ orange!"

Jason groaned, his ears adjusting to the shouting on the street. He had decided to spend some quality time with his adoptive family for the weekend after the two-day quest, and had temporarily resigned from any praetor responsibilities regarding Camp Jupiter and New Rome, but he couldn't help but rip open the curtain to watch the commotion below.

His eyes zoomed towards the group of people pointing fingers at each other as they made their way into Camp Jupiter, probably to see Reyna, the other praetor.

Glancing at the clock, Jason realized that it was only six o'clock in the morning, and the only people up would be employers and employees opening their shops for the day. He knew that Reyna would have slept late, and not wanting to take away her extra hour of sleep, Jason got up and hollered, "What's going on?"

The group immediately turned their attention toward Jason's bedroom window, and their eyes widened when they realized that one of their praetors was only a few feet from them.

"Praetor Jason, I didn't know you were in town!" one of them shouted back.

"Can you help us, Praetor Jason?" another cried out.

"Solve this, praetor!"

"To whoever is responsible for this, MAKE THEM PAY Praetor Jason!"

"Do you know who is behind this, Praetor Jason? The Mercury kids?"

"Praetor Jason, why would someone want to do this?"

"Praetor, what does BAMBOOeven _mean_?"

"Of all colours, praetor, why would they choose orange?"

Jason put his hand up, silencing the group. "Alright, one at a time! Can someone tell me exactly what's going on?" He pointed the woman closest to his window. "Miss, can you please explain?"

She nodded. "We were going to open our respective shops, praetor, when we found all the roofs painted a sickly shade of orange. Not to mention, the word 'BAMBOO' comes up repeatedly, scribbled on little tags hanging on every door." She looked up towards Jason's house. "Praetor, it seems like everyone's house, including yours has been painted orange with the 'BAMBOO' tag hanging on the doorknobs as well like a-like a _mark of territorial claim_."

Jason arched an eyebrow. If it had been the word BARF, he would have immediately concluded that Bobby was responsible, but since the word was BAMBOO, he didn't really know.

"I'll see what I can do," he responded, nodding at the crowd. "Can you all grab the tags and hand them to me and then open up your shops? I'll deal with this situation as soon as possible," Jason promised.

"Yes, Praetor Jason," they chorused together, heading over to their shops.

When the last person disappeared into their shop, Jason whipped his curtain shut and groaned. "And it's only six o'clock in the morning."

"Jason?" Carly, his adoptive mother called him quietly from the other side of the door. She had knocked on the door gently, but hearing Jason's voice addressing people, she had stayed waited outside his room until it was silent again.

"Come in, Mom," Jason said, running his right hand through his blonde hair. He looked over at her apologetically. "Mom, I don't think I can hang out with the family today. I have to deal with this issue first."

Carly smiled and ruffled his hair. "No worries, Jace. We have tomorrow to make up for it." She looked out the window and shook her head. "I wonder who had the dedication to paint all of these roofs orange, and what were they trying to achieve."

Jason groaned. "Wouldn't we all like to know?"

She laughed quietly before making her way towards the door. "Come downstairs and have some breakfast first before you do anything else," Carly said, her hand on the doorknob. "You need to take care of yourself before you can take care of New Rome."

"Gotcha, Mom," Jason mumbled back, pulling his covers over his head. "So much for a vacation."

After scarfing down three waffles drizzled in maple syrup, Jason reluctantly dragged his feet out the front down to witness in person what got everyone so angry in the morning.

"Why, why would anyone do this?" Jason groaned to himself, poking his orange front door. "What does this even accomplish?"

He walked down the street, grimacing at all the orange doors. The person certainly didn't miss any. Jason stepped into a bakery three blocks from his house. "Hey, Nathan," he greeted the baker, his blue eyes straying towards the pastries.

The baker looked up from the bucket of white paint at the sound of the praetor's voice. He wiped his brow and stood up, making his way back behind the counter again. "Hey, Praetor J," Nathan greeted him back, grabbing a pile of tags from a chair. "Here're those tags you wanted. Alexia has the ones from the other side of New Rome," he informed him, handing Jason the tags in a plastic bag.

Jason took the bag and nodded. "Is _every single_ building painted orange?" he asked. The son of Jupiter silently prayed to the gods that some buildings were spared and maybe only half of New Rome was the colour of a sunset.

The baker grunted. "Not every single building. All of the college buildings were left alone, the theatre's untouched, Coliseum's door was only tagged….all the large buildings were okay. It's only the neighbourhoods and shops."

"Hmm…" was all Jason said as he pulled out a tag. A groan escaped his lips as he stared at the word. "Of course," he mumbled to himself. "What didn't I just trust myself?"

Nathan stared at the blonde, bewildered. "Are you alright? "

Jason looked up, forcing a smile. "I'm fine," he replied. "I'm going to go back to Camp Jupiter and get some more help," he added, shoving the tag back into the bag. "So don't worry about painting too much. Everyone needs their coffee and pastries to start their day, right?" Jason flashed a reassuring smile at the baker before heading towards the door. "See you later, Nathan."

"Wait." The baker hurriedly packed a chocolate croissant into a paper bag and handed it to Jason. "It's on me. I figured you might need it," Nathan said, smiling.

The son of Jupiter gripped the paper bag like a lifeline. "Thanks, Nathan," he replied gratefully, trying to control himself. He really wanted to eat the croissant in one bite. "The person who did this will be very sorry," Jason promised as he exits the bakery.

* * *

"FOR JUPITER'S SAKE, WHY'D YOU DO IT!?"

"WHAT DO YA MEAN I DID IT?"

"C'MON, IT HAS YOUR NAME WRITTEN ALL OVER IT!"

"NO, IT HAS BAMBOO WRITTEN ALL OVER IT!"

"YOU THINK I DON'T RECOGNIZE YOUR WRITING BY NOW?"

"…I DON'T WRITE LIKE THAT!"

"YOU DO WHEN IT'S A PRANK!"

"I DON'T ALWAYS WRITE LIKE THAT. I SOMETIMES WRITE WITH CURLY LETTERS."

"SO IT _IS_ YOU THEN!"

"…Aw, GODSDAMN IT! MERCURY, YOU MUST BE SO ASHAMED OF ME RIGHT NOW."

Jason huffed, glaring at a squatting Bobby, who was pouting over the fact that he accidently let Jason know he was the one who painted New Rome orange. Jason had dragged Bobby into the Field of Mars where he knew it would be quiet and away from the rest of the legionnaires.

"But Bobby, why, _why_ would you paint everything orange?" Jason asked, pulling his hair in frustration. "Do you know how much work it's gonna take to repaint the roofs and the doors?"

The son of Mercury frowned. "Ryan," he said simply, resting his elbows on his knees. "I was playing truth or dare with the First and Third Cohort and Ryan got truth and I asked him what colour he hated the most and he said orange because it didn't go well with his hair and I said okay and we continued playing, and then it was my turn and I had dare and Ryan had to choose my dare and he told me to ask June out and I glared at him and said why, and he said that I just had to do it and then I growled angrily at him and I went over to June who was sharpening her knife by the Coliseum and I asked her if she wanted to chill with me at Café Jupiter tomorrow as in tomorrow of that day, and I expected her to say no but then she slowly smiled creepily and said yes and I was so surprised but I had no choice but to agree so I nodded and then the next day I met her at Café Jupiter and it was weird because Ryan was working that day but I didn't care because I wanted to get it over with so I ordered a slice of apple pie for me and a hot chocolate for June and when we sat down, I took a bite of the deceivingly nice looking pie and then there was a salty and spicy taste in my mouth and you know how much I hate spicy things so I was jumping up and down and trying to rub the spiciness off my tongue and I must have looked funny because Ryan took a picture and he said that I better not do anything to him or else he'll show everyone that picture, and then they laughed even more and left while Gregory who's the guy who works there part time came out and asked me what was wrong and then he pointed at my hands and said there were red spots and then I realized that Ryan put itching powder all over the pie and I must have had swallowed itching powder, which was a very bad thing so I asked Gregory to call Gwen who healed me enough to leave the store and ever since I have been plotting something that would be more embarrassing than what happened to me so no one would care about _my_ photo."

Jason's eyes widened as he tried to absorb everything Bobby said. Whenever Bobby gets caught and has to explain, he always rambles on about it quickly and with few pauses so that there would be a delayed action by the receiver, and he would be able to detect how to respond next to avoid the least amount of trouble.

The son of Jupiter cleared his throat. "Let me get this straight: Ryan pranked you, took a photo, so you decided to use his most hated colour as part of a prank."

Bobby nodded slowly. "It was very unpleasant," he added. "Did you expect me to just _take_ it?"

The blonde sighed heavily, running his fingers through his hair. "No, but I didn't expect you to take it out on 95% of New Rome!"

"Ryan's going to New Rome today to visit his family," Bobby informed him brightly. "I wanted him to enjoy a New Rome catered to his colour preferences." The prankster grinned widely. "I also put orange dye in his laundry last night and his lotion. It's only shows up in the sun, and it's _really_ sunburn-prone."

"Of course," Jason said, massaging his temple. He could feel a headache coming on from all the work that he needs to do.

"There're some other minor details, but I'd rather that be a surprise," the son of Mercury said, grinning manically. "I've been collecting favours for a while so I decided, why not use them on Ryan?"

"Why do you always have to go all out on your pranks?" Jason asked, exhaling tiredly.

"Like the mortals say: go big or go home."

Jason waved his hands in the air in panic. "But what are we gonna tell Reyna?"

"The only thing you guys are telling me is that you're helping out with painting and cleaning," a sharp voice responded and both Jason and Bobby whipped around nervously.

"Hey, Reyna," Bobby said, his voice slightly more high-pitched than usual. "Nice weather, isn't it, for seven thirty in the morning?"

"I would have had time to enjoy it if I wasn't interrupted on my way out of my _villa_ because some people decided to paint New Rome as a sunset!" Reyna retorted angrily, her hand on her _pugio._

Jason gulped. He really hoped that Reyna's _pugio_ remained sleeping in its sheath.

"But you like sunsets, Reyna," Bobby pointed out.

Jason mentally smacked himself at Bobby's remark. It seemed that Bobby _really_ didn't want to live today.

" _Stultus_ ," the female praetor hissed out. "It is _stultus_ because now, I have to fill in a report for Lupa as to why our city is painted orange out of all colours, and deal with Terminus' grumbling, and personally issue an apology on behalf of Camp Jupiter to New Rome instead of welcoming my sister and the Amazons to Camp Jupiter."

"Oh yeah, Hylla's coming today." Jason grimaced, recalling the last time Hylla came to Camp Jupiter. It didn't go as well as he hoped, but considering he was partly the reason why Reyna stayed in Camp Jupiter, he wasn't really expecting a cake or something. Unless it was thrown at his face. Which actually did happen. On his birthday too, out of all days!

"I expect you in New Rome painting doors with the rest of your siblings, Bobby," Reyna commanded, her even darker than usual. "There are better things to do other than pranking, such as practicing your swordsmanship, yet, you guys still manage to squeeze in time to give the city a makeover. Please, next time, leave the makeover to the Venus offsprings."

Bobby blinked rapidly while Jason stared at her, confused. "Whaaa?" Bobby stuttered out.

The _pugio_ left the warm, danger-friendly sheath. Bobby froze when the golden tip was inches from his throat. "You are going to take your _podex_ and walk to New Rome right now and repaint the orange doors alongside your siblings in order to clean up after the mess you guys made."

"How'd you – what?" the son of Mercury spluttered out unintelligently.

A mental war continued on in Jason's head, making him wince as the headache worsened. First, he woke up to the colour of orange, had to untake the day off, walk _all_ the way to Camp Jupiter to yell at Bobby, find out (almost) everything Bobby did, and then have everything he thought he knew disproven when Reyna sauntered in and told him that all of Mercury's children was responsible for the prank.

"The Third Cohort found items belonging to you and your siblings," Reyna explained exasperatedly. She withdrew the _pugio_ and sheathed it. "Punishments will be decided by the Senate this afternoon at five. Do _not_ be late," she warned, tapping his foot impatiently. "Now, _ī_ ," she said, pointing towards New Rome.

Bobby looked bewildered for a moment before realization dawned on him. He mouthed _I'll explain later_ to the equally bewildered blonde before saluting Reyna and rushing towards New Rome.

Leaving him with Reyna.

"What was that all about?" she questioned him, her eyebrow raised.

"I really don't know," he answered lamely, scratching the back of his head.

The daughter of Bellona studied him, her eyes narrowing. Jason had to remind himself to stop backing up at the intensity of her stare. It made him blush lightly, and she cleared her throat, looking away at the sight. "It's tedious for the others to paint the roofs because they would have to climb up and climb down, so I was wondering if you'd help paint the roofs while I take care of the paperwork. You would only need to sign them after the Senate meeting," Reyna said, her voice sounding strange to Jason.

"Y-yeah, sure," Jason stuttered out, giving her an overly enthusiastic thumbs-up. "Superman to the rescue!"

Reyna rolled her eyes. "You never change," she said, her voice returning back to normal.

"Never want to," Jason answered, shooting her his widest smile as he headed towards New Rome. "If you need me, Spanish Queen, you know where to find me!" he shouted over his shoulder. The son of Jupiter waved at her until she was a small dot in the distance and he could no longer tell if she was waving back or not.

* * *

"This is exactly how I wanted to spend my day off from praetor duty," Jason mumbled to himself sarcastically as he systematically slid the paint roller up and down the orange roof. "Repainting hideous orange roofs because my best friend decided it would be fun to include the entire city in his prank."

"You doing okay there, O mighty praetor?" A voice shouted below him.

Jason peeked over the roof and saw Astra Cheung, a legacy of Trivia and Mercury, blinking her emerald eyes at him. "Having the time of my life," he replied sarcastically, trying to give her a thumbs-up while holding the paint roller. However, the slight movement caused a drop of white paint fall onto Astra's dark hair.

Okay, it caused a huge splat of white paint to fall onto Astra's hair.

She glared up at him. "Despite everything, I don't think I deserve WHITE PAINT DROPPED ONTO MY BLACK HAIR." Astra huffed drew something out from her pocket and tossed it onto the roof. It stuck onto the middle of the roof and Jason squatted down to study it. It had a rubbery protective layer and when Jason was reached his finger out to poke it, it suddenly exploded in his face, blinding him temporarily.

"Ah, get it off! Get it off! GET IT OFF OF ME!" he yelled, attempting to rub the paint from his eyes with one hand. He finally was able to open his eyes and found that a crowd had formed when Astra was standing.

"Are you alright, praetor?" Nathan called out, cocking an eyebrow at how orange Jason was. "How did you manage to get orange paint all over yourself?"

The son of Jupiter looked down and realized that the _entire front half of his body_ was orange. He peeked at his _podex_ and found it to be clad in grey shorts. Lightening bolts were practically shooting out from his ears as he shot an icy glare at Astra. He was about to curse in angry Latin when she piped up, "How much are you done, Praetor Jason?"

Jason looked over at the roof he was painting and his jaw dropped in shock when he found it to be completely orange. Again. "But I just –" he sputtered out, staring at the orange before him.

"Nathan's roof still needs to be painted," Astra informed him, her eyes sparkling with mischief. Jason had no doubt she was a descendant of Mercury, but sometimes he wondered if she was also somewhere in her godly bloodline related to Nemesis. "Also, Bobby's entire street still needs to a paint job." On that happy note, she walked away, the crowd slowly dispersing as well. The only happiness Jason found in that moment of embarrassment and orangeness was that the white paint has slid onto the back of her purple sweater, and everyone was too busy talking amongst themselves to notice and point it out to her.

"Hmmph," Jason huffed as he grimaced at the orange roof. "This was really _not_ how I wanted to spend my day off."

* * *

 _Seventy-one rooftops later_

"Done," was all Jason could get out before he collapsed on a chair across from an amused Reyna in the _principia_. "I am sick and tired of the colour orange and I really need to take a nice long bath."

"Then why are you here?" the daughter of Bellona questioned him, placing her pen down and giving him her full attention.

"Because I was wondering if you needed any help," the son of Jupiter replied, closing his eyes. He was imagining a bright blue sky with fluffy clouds and rainbows and –

"NOPE NOPE NOPE!" Reyna jumped slightly as Jason's suddenly outburst. His eyes shot open and looking down at himself, he jumped up and ran past her. "WHY BOBBY WHYYY!"

Reyna peered out the door, slightly concerned for the blonde's sanity. "For the love of Bellona," she mumbled to herself, watching him struggling to open the door to the baths. "Today's just one of those days."

Jason couldn't remember the last time he felt this calm. The steam from the baths has evaporated all his worries away and all he could think about was the relaxing day he was going to have tomorrow with his family.

"Hey, Jason, you in here?" a voice called out, interrupting his thoughts.

"Third on the left!" he called out wearily, wrapping the towel tighter around his waist. He _knew_ the calmness couldn't last very long!

There was a knock on the door and Xavier Hudson peeked in, giving him a fake salute. "Hey, reminder from Reyna that the meeting starts in ten."

"Gotcha," Jason answered, nodding reluctantly. "I'll be out in a sec."

Xavier saluted him again before closing the door behind him.

Jason stood there for a few seconds allowed himself a few more moments of relaxation before he reached for his clothes.

Which were non-existent. He forgot that he threw out everything right before he jumped into the baths, and by everything, he meant _everything_. Meaning that he either could sit in here, waiting for one of his friends to come in and give him a change of clothes, or he had to run all the way back to his _villa_ with only a towel covering everything that had to be covered.

Both options wouldn't allow him to make it to the meeting on time, but Jason figured he'd rather be late a few minutes than not show up at all.

The blonde considered flying for a brief moment since it would mean no one would have to see him on the ground, but since it would leave everything _under_ his towel quite exposed to anyone who happened to be looking upwards, he decided against it and prepared himself for a rather embarrassing run.

Jason opened the door to the baths slightly and peered outside. Luckily, he saw that no one was nearby and sighed in relief. Jason raced out of the door, one hand tightly grasping onto the front of the towel. He rushed to hide behind a bush in order to check for any people passing by.

"Intense game of hide-and-seek you're playing, praetor," a voice said from somewhere above him.

Jason flushed when he turned around and saw Jia Mercier standing by the window of the First Cohort. The daughter of Bellona and legacy of Neptune reached out and ruffled his hair. "Whatcha doing here by the First, Jace?" She laughed at his embarrassment. "You are _so_ lucky Octavian already left for the meeting."

"I forgot to bring a change of clothes to the baths," he explained, his face turning redder when Jia burst into giggles. "So I was trying to quietly run _all_ the way back to my _villa_ to change before the meeting, but clearly, I failed."

Jia disappeared for a moment and came back with a purple shirt and a pair of plain black shorts. "Here," she said, tossing them to him.

"Whose are these?" he asked, slipping the _Camp Jupiter_ t-shirt over his head.

"Uh, the pants are Octavian's and the shirt's a spare," Jia replied, stifling her laughs at the flabbergasted expression on his face.

"You gave me _Octavian's pants_?" Jason said in horror, ready to toss the pants back at her laughing face.

"Well, it was lying on his bed, ready to be folded, and I figured you're kinda pressed for time," she responded, propping her elbow on the window and resting her chin in her right palm. "It's clean though, I promise," Jia added, holding back another round of giggles. "Though I'm not sure how you're gonna sit through a three hour meeting with no underwear…plus, you'll probably be chewed and spit back out by Reyna for being late since you only have five minutes to get to the _principia_ …"

"What the Pluto did I do to deserve this?" the blonde grumbled to himself, quickly sliding into the shorts. "…Do you think Octavian will notice?" Jason asked, handing Jia the towel.

Jia rolled her eyes, tossing the towel somewhere in the First Cohort. "C'mon, Jace, it's a standard pair of black shorts for training. Half of Camp Jupiter owns the same pair." She blinked. "But you'll probably stand out anyway since you're not in your standard toga," the brunette pointed out, shrugging. "Oh, well. I guess that's your problem. See ya!" And with that, Jia rapidly pulled the window down and closed the curtains.

"Hey – " Jason started, but knew she couldn't hear him. Sighing, he peeked out of the bush and with heavy steps he walked towards the _principia_.

"Glad you could join us, _Praetor Jason_ ," Octavian sneered, drumming his fingers on the table. "You're _just_ in time; not a minute sooner and not a minute later, unlike some of us who have been waiting here for a while now."

Jason glared at the augur and was about to respond angrily when Reyna cleared her throat. "Jason Grace, please take your seat." Her eyes drifted to his attire. "Where is your toga, praetor?"

The son of Jupiter resisted the urge to flush in embarrassment under her glare. "In the wash still?" he offered, slowly edging his way towards his seat.

Her dark eyes flashed with irritation. No doubt, he was making it _really_ hard for her to keep defending him against Octavian and company. Reyna had rarely slipped up since she was elected praetor but Jason...well, it seemed like all his luck vanished in the fight against Krios because he almost always ended up doing something wrong. Nothing huge, per say, but enough to have Octavian complain about Jason not being suited for the praetor position.

"Our own praetor can't even show up to formal meetings in the appropriate attire," Octavian said, sighing heavily. "What does this say about his respect of our other traditions?"

"While it's inappropriate for Jason Grace to show up in shorts and a t-shirt," Reyna said, resting both her arms on the sides of the chair, "the main goal of these meetings is to discuss issues affecting Camp Jupiter and New Rome, _not_ tocompare fashion trends." She turned her dark eyes to the son of Jupiter. "This is your first and final warning, Jason Grace."

"It won't happen again," Jason promised, quickly sitting down beside her.

Octavian scoffed, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his seat.

"Now that everyone's here, we'll get started," Reyna announced, directing her attention to a tall boy sitting at the back. "Landon Underwood, please inform the Senate of the current issue."

The son of Terminus nodded, rising from his seat. "Around 5:57am, citizens of New Rome who were opening their shops found their doors painted a bright orange. The word _bamboo_ repeatedly appeared on the doors, written in a black permanent marker. Tags with the word _bamboo_ were also found hanging on doorknobs. Upon further inspection, we concluded that the culprit or culprits had painted every door and roof in New Rome orange except the larger buildings such as the college buildings; only a tag was found hanging from the doorknobs. After investigating each building, we found evidence that led us to the culprits." Landon emptied a bag on a table. There were several crumpled pieces of paper and handful of paintbrushes coated with orange paint.

"Jupiter!" Jason hissed quietly, shutting his eyes tightly. _Think blue, think blue…_

Reyna looked over at him, cocking an eyebrow, slightly startled by his reaction.

"Uh, what do those things even prove?" A voice piped out from the middle of the room. It was Irene Rousseau, a daughter of Mercury. She looked confused. "It's just a bunch of paintbrushes and pieces of paper."

Landon smoothed out one of the pieces of paper. Squinting his eyes and only opening then when any sign of orange disappearing, Jason leaned forward and saw various lines of Latin. He recognized all the writing styles; Bobby used them all when pulling pranks! Jason resisted the urge to glare at Bobby and waited for Landon's explanation.

"These were the plans to carry the prank," Landon said, pointing various lines. "And there must have been multiple people involved, judging from the different writing styles."

"But that could be multiple anyones!" Matthias Greco, another child of Mercury called out from the left of the _principia_. "Why does everyone assume that every prank is ours?"

"Because these were the paintbrushes you guys were using yesterday to paint the mural," Landon answered, picking up one of the paintbrushes. "You guys were in charge of the sunset. The main colour used was orange." The son of Terminus glanced to his right. "Besides, it would also explain _that_ ," Landon added, pointing at Ryan Frontier, who had a deep scowl on his face.

Jason was surprised he didn't notice him earlier. The colour of his toga was normal, but as Bobby had informed him earlier, it was definitely sunburn-prone. Multiple holes were found on his toga and Jason could see the red, itchy skin under it. Ryan's nose was bright red and some of the skin that had peeled off was hanging from his nostrils.

"We plotted revenge _days_ ago!" Irene protested. "We're already on extra stable duty and midnight patrols because of #Ryanplayswithexplodingsword, _remember_?"

"Thirst for revenge is not always quenched that easily," Victoria Eldridge, daughter of Nemesis, pointed out. "Besides, you guys might still be cursed by the Somnus clan," she added, flicking her chocolate brown eyes towards a figure who was nodding off at the back of the room. "Hey, Tyler, wake up," she called, but said boy continued snoring. "GODSDAMNIT TYLER NATHANIEL ACCARDI, WAKE UP!"

"I really wanna punch the owner of that voice," the boy yawned, blinking slowly.

"How long does the curse last again?" Landon asked.

Tyler looked like he was about to drift off again when someone elbowed him. "Urgh," he said, glaring sleepily at the rows in front of him. "Eh, the spell that makes them constantly tired, randomly falling asleep, and sleepwalking?" He fell silent for a moment before another elbow was shoved in his side. "Uh, it ranges from a day to a week. Sometimes symptoms disappear and show up again." Tyler's eyes drooped shut. "But they deserved it after that prank they pull –" Before he could finish, the son of Somnus fell asleep again, snoring quietly in his seat.

"…Are you implying that we pulled the prank in our _sleep_?" Matthias asked in his _are you crazy_ voice.

"Well, some of you guys _did_ sleepwalk to the Field of Mars without injuring yourselves and fell asleep there the first night," Xavier pointed out. Shrugging indifferently, the son of Mars continued. "We found you guys sleeping in a perfect circle. So it's not as impossible as it sounds."

"And besides, how do you explain the fact that the paintbrushes were found in New Rome and not in Camp Jupiter?" Landon asked, pointing back to the paintbrushes. "Why would they be in New Rome if the mural's in Camp Jupiter?"

Jason looked over at Reyna, who remained expressionless as she observed the situation. Bobby _said_ he was responsible for the prank, but then, why was there evidence suggesting otherwise?

"Well, children of Mercury, what is your answer?" Reyna finally asked, her dark eyes roaming around the room.

But not one of them had an answer for her. Irene looked conflicted and Matthias was still gaping in shock at the suggestion that they painted New Rome half-asleep.

"Unless you can come up with a more logical explanation than the one that we found, I would advise you prepare yourselves for the consequences," Reyna suggested. "Please exit the _principia_ while the Senate discusses the appropriate consequences for this matter," she said, addressing everyone in the room. The children of Mercury quickly got up, bowed slightly, and rushed out the doors. When Tyler was finally dragged out the door, Reyna turned her attention to the remaining people. "So, what is the verdict?"

"A year's worth of stable duty!" Larry Erikson from the Second Cohort called out.

"Mess hall duty," Xavier suggested.

"You really want the Mercury kids to handle the plates you eat off of?" Dakota Fenns asked him, reaching for his flask of Kool-Aid.

Octavian's hand shot in the air. "Drills!" he shouted, smirking widely. "Three times a day. An hour in the early morning, two hours during the hottest period of the afternoon, and an hour after sunset."

"Hmm…punishment through physical pain," Larry mused. "I like the sound of that."

" _Three_ hours in the burning sun," Ryan interrupted, attempting to move his peeling lips as little as possible.

"They're still human," Reyna retorted, narrowing her eyes at Ryan. "Drills. An hour before sunrise, an hour during the afternoon, and an hour after sunset. Is that the final decision?"

Jason counted little over three quarters worth of hands in the air. "Drills it is," he confirmed, nodding his head in approval. He stood up and walked towards the door.

"You guys can come back in now," Jason called out, but there was no sign of people in front of him.

"We might as well use it up," Jason heard a low voice whisper in the bushes. "We'll just say it was part of the plan. We're already getting Pluto for this anyway."

"No way; we might get into even more trouble," another voice argued.

"We're _always_ in trouble," a third voice piped out.

"Doesn't mean we should bring more trouble upon ourselves if we can help it!" the second voice said, his voice growing louder.

"Why're you guys hiding?" Jason called out again, trying to see beyond the bushes. He walked towards them and heard more arguing.

"Give it, Matthias," a feminine voice said.

"No, Irene. This is the worst planned out prank ever!" the voice, which Jason assumed was Matthias argued back. "We can do better than that." Jason heard clanging. "Ow, Emily, stop hitting me with the lid!"

"Give it!"

"No!"

"Matthias, give it!"

"STOP HITTING ME EMILY!"

"THEN GIVE IT TO IRENE!"

"NO!"

"Matthias, I think you should just hand it over."

"You too, Paul?"

"Give it NOW!"

Jason quickly pushed his way into the bushes. "What is going –"

A loud _splash_ was heard, followed by a hollow _clang_.

"Oh, Mercury, have mercy on me," Matthias whispered, gulping at the sight of an orange-coloured Jason Grace.

Said orange boy only stood there, breathing heavily and loudly. Jason looked down at his bright orange hands. He could feel his heart racing nervously.

"NOT AGAAINNNN!"

Bobby stepped out of the bushes to join his siblings as they observed the son of Jupiter sprinting all the way to the baths, leaving a trail of sunset behind him. He cocked his head slightly to the left. "Huh," Bobby finally said, watching his best friend disappear like the sun at the end of the day. "I wonder what's the matter with him."

* * *

 **I don't even remember why I wanted to end this way buuut I really like Matthias.**

 **Anyway, I know my updates are rare and all over the place but I still have a soft spot for Percy Jackson and HoO. I'm doing summer courses and coop so it's hard to find some time but since I have the prophecy now, some plot ideas are more clearer for me now so hopefully the third chapter will come out soon!**

 **Please read and review!**

 **-DOTE**


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